5.7 to 6.1

[Scotty_12]

Ok guys I am new to the site. Well here it goes. I am tired of truck payments so I just bought a 03 Ram regular cab 5.7. I am going to redo this truck from the ground up. I am going to put a 6.1 in. So question is what all do I need to complete this. Engin, trans And so on. Thanks for all the help

 

[HemiLonestar]

Welcome to the site; boy did you pick the wrong year for that lol. Depends on how much of the 6.1 you want to use. Have you thought out a plan yet or have a goal or just "I wanna put a 6.1 in just because"? What is your budget and personal mechanical/electrical expertise/ability? This will aid us in helping you.

 

[MADDOG]

I'd get the PCM, the sensor harness, the front accessory drive, maybe even the transmission and TCM to start.

 

[HemiLonestar]

I'd get the PCM, the sensor harness, the front accessory drive, maybe even the transmission and TCM to start.

Considering what vehicles he would be able to get a 6.1 from (Charger, Challenger, Magnum, 300, Grand Cherokee), all of that is going to be useless. CANbus PCM, NAG1 (WA580) transmission, LX or WK harness, backwards ass front accessory drive (opposite rotation and different location accessories) and an LX/WK TCM that he wouldn't be able to use.
Hence the reason I asked what I asked, we don't know if he's doing this himself, what he has access to or is capable of, what he can afford, etc. There's a cheaper way to do this successfully and then there's more that can be done that is more complicated and correspondingly more expensive.

 

[MADDOG]

I wasn't going to list all the necessary steps and the issues he's gonna run into with the build but he did ask what he would need since he did say he was gonna put in a 6.1L.

Heck, my approach would be to build the 5.7L and boost it.

 

[HemiLonestar]

Other than the fact that he'd have a ***** of a time tuning it lol, 6.1 short block could be used with the stock heads and accessories. With a mild cam it would run on a canned tune (almost not worth it at that point). Now if he's willing to do the PCM conversion, that changes things.